The invention relates to a boat that may be collapsed, having a boat body consisting of a myriad of hull surfaces, and with at least two hull surfaces, the lateral edges of which, in dismantled state, lie loose opposite each other.
Folding boats of the type indicated consist, usually, of individual boat wall components, which are joined to one another by means of watertight separating joints, in such a manner as to be firm and indissoluble.
Thus, for example, the publications US-PS U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,768, French patent 22 88 026, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,271,338 teach of folding boats that have rigid boat wall components, which are linked to one another, in each case, by means of water-tight separating joints which run in a rectilinear fashion. Indeed, with the known embodiments of folding boats, it is possible, with the help of longitudinal and transverse folds, to reduce the size of the boat to a minimal packing size, for transport, for example, but the lateral edges of the individual components of the boat wall, which are connected to one another, and which run in a rectilinear fashion, do not permit a conformation of hull that reacts favorably to currents, or one that is stable, especially for use on the water. Both of the aforementioned American publications teach of folding boats, whose stern and bow areas are formed, in each case, of rectilinear, quadratic plates. An embodiment that is more favorable in currents is shown in the French publication, which teaches of a folding boat whose stern and bow sections are constituted of trapezoidal planar sections of hull that lie adjacent to one another, thus yielding, at least in these sections, an approximately round-shaped hull. In this regard, see especially FIGS. 1 through 8 of FR 22 88 026.
For improved use on the water, French patent 26 11 645, French patent 11 48 062, the German published patent application 33 12 730 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,784, and German utility patent 17 06 581 teach of boats of a similar type, which have a hull form with rounded lines along its edges. Indeed, the properties for operation on the water, insofar as the technological aspects of currents are concerned, are markedly improved over the aforementioned groups of folding boats, but the latter examples of embodiments do not exhibit the possibility of folding the folded boat's hull in the transverse direction so that in their collapsed state, the boats must be transported in their entire length. The folding boat shown in the German utility patent 17 06 581, exhibits, however, the possibility of at least one line of demarcation running transversely to the longitudinal axis of the boat, with the help of which it is possible, for example, to divide the length of the boat. Accordingly, along this line of demarcation, no provision is made for the individual portions of the boat to fold into one another; rather, provision is made for a mere separation of the individual halves of the boat.